It’s our first Smackdown back after WrestleMania 28! We wrapped our Celebration of Professional Wrestling 2012. Be sure to click that link to check out any of the fantastic podcasts and articles we saw during our marathon.
But things changed in some massive ways on RAW to kick off the unofficial start of the new “season” of the WWE. John Laurinitaus took over the reigns of Smackdown from Theodore Long, for example. Jack “The San Jose Shark” Swagger debuted his new look and showed distention with Dolph Ziggler. John Cena questioned his inner being. Brodus finally got elevated. The Rock made allusions to being World Champion one more time. Some oddly familiar, non-Asian looking guy debuted. Oh yeah… and….
Impact is Hogan Country. After only being gone since October, Hogan is now a face official. And out to introduce him is Dixie Carter doing her best Price’s Right impersonation introduces the man in black in blue GM Hulk Hogan.
This time the entire locker room is out there instead of the last weeks 5 or 6 faces. Hogan starts booking matches, Crimson and Morgan will settle their feud at Lockdown and also having Angle vs Hardy right after his speech.
Angle and Hardy ends in a count out after Kurt decides enough is enough. Hogan congratulates him and sets up a Lockdown match between them. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t Kurt legit hurt with a pulled groin so shouldn’t he be taking it easy for those Olympic trials instead of in a cage? But I guess priorities.
Flair is in the back on his cell phone talking to Vince ..er I mean Eric Bischoff about out of control Hogan.
The Bully Ray comes out talk about his name and how he’s taken craps bigger than Austin Aries. Which of course prompts Aries to come out and fling his microphone at him and beat on him in the corner before Ray gets the upper hand and powerbombs Aries. Bully Ray like a kid who forgets that he’s already introduced himself asks “Do you know who I am?”
Then we have Joseph Park still looking for his brother Abyss. This time he hopes that the caterers know where he’s at but to no avail but he leaves his card anyway. At this point he should just go straight to Dixie Carter ask to see the tapes from Genesis, find out the Bully Ray may have something to do with and attack/litigate him to death. Just sayin.
Then we have the knockouts number one contenders match with everyone but Brooke Tessmacher, Sarita and Rosita because you know they don’t exist in the realm of possiblity of getting the title. That right is reserved for Velvet Sky who not only was given a whole new backstory but hot shoted to the title picture because she exudes sexuality! Who needs talented knockouts when one can get first Madison Rayne who is the longest reigning former champion and a women who causes men to “Let the Pigeons Loose”. Glow, Shimmer and Chickfight keep me strong. Velvet wins after apologizing to Mickie and hitting her with “In Yo Face” for her Lockdown rematch.
Wrong Pic but I like it better than a champion Sky
EY has a bachelor party with a bunch of nerds…Our word so I am allowed to say it. Well Jock nerds who play Fantasy Baseball when Dungeons and Dragons is too complicated. Then ODB comes in an places Eric’s face in her boobs. And I died a little inside. KO Tag Titles going to good use.
Aj Styles and James storm was nice and a good flashback to when Roode took on Styles to prepare for Angle. After a moonsault, Storm kicks Styles teeth down in his throat. In a good little short match. Here is something I can get behind now if only AJ could stop being used as enhancement talent which seems to be the case 99% of time.
Montgomery Gentry is in the back and is confronted by Roode and his bodyguards as he spits water into the rednecks eyes. OH SH–t I smell a Canadian lynching! but no that is what security is for.
In one of the oddest turn of events what was once a one on one match between Gunner and Garett is now turned into a Lethal Lockdown match were if Bischoff senior loses he right to the Bischoff name along with being kicked off Impact. Hmm I wonder who is going to win you know with Eric getting work on a project that could and will take him off television for a while but like a cockroach he’ll be back.
Always getting his good side
MCMG have a tag match against Mexican America who I thought had disbanded after the Repo game guy took thier girls but there back too along with Helium Chavo. You know when I can’t have Sarita and to a lesser extent Rosita in the Knockout title picture but they can hang with LAX lite to be fed to the MachineGuns I know what I’m in for in the foreseeable future. Crap. MCMG win and then call out the Joe Daddies. So yeah here comes the tag division and I mean all the meaningful tag teams in a cage for the titles. 4 guys make up a once great division. TNA should look at the total roster and make more and not only that but with them renewing there deal with Spike put on Xplosion on Saturdays with focus on Tag team, Television and X Division story arcs. Internal booking mode off. I’m happy that Sabin is back though.
And the main event is a “dream” match between Mr. Anderson and Roode who in typical heel fashion smacks a beer bottle over his head. And wins only to have Storm then Hogan out to reverse the decision to close out the show.
Thoughts: I find the introduction to be really Razzie bad by Dixie but after that the show really took off and we got some good matches and some good progression what with the Motor City Machine Guns back and kicking ass and maybe we will have an official who watches the matches and intervenes when something goes wrong unlike Sting for the last few months. Here is to a better Go Home show then last PPV what with it being Lockdown.
See you next Week
And no visible pics. yeah this is awesome. Hope to get that fixed for next time. (ThinkSoJoE note: Fixed!)
For nearly four years now, I’ve been blogging about professional wrestling right here on BoredWrestlingFan.com. In that time, I’ve seen countless professional wrestlers pass away, but I’ve very rarely ever felt the need to get on the computer and write about it, other than maybe a “RIP So-and-so” status on my personal facebook. Today, however, I felt inspired by the passing of one Chief Jay Strongbow.
When you’re a wrestling fan for a long enough time, there are names that, whether you’d actually seen them compete or not, you know. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Captain Lou Albano, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, to name a few. Chief Jay Strongbow is one of those. I can’t honestly say that I’ve seen a Chief Jay Strongbow match in my life, but I know the name. I know the legacy. How big of a name in professional wrestling was Chief Jay Strongbow? Here’s a quote from the 1999 Adam Sandler film, “Big Daddy.”
“He taught me how to do the sleeper hold like Chief Jay Strongbow.”
My only real experience seeing Chief Strongbow with my own eyes was in a ceremony done on WWF Superstars with Tatanka, when Strongbow presented him a feather headdress that was destroyed a few weeks later by Irwin R. Schyster. But I’d known the name for a long, long time. Our condolences to his friends and family.
Wow, what a whirlwind of activity we’ve had over the last week plus… It’s been a great ride for all involved at Bored Wrestling Fan and Wonderpod-Online! I’d like to thank all involved with this great project, and on behalf of all involved, a special thanks to you the wrestling fans who took the time to check out our work. We do appreciate it! After the link, a complete archive of all the content that came out is available. Just in case you missed something…
The night after Wrestlemania. The debut of Mankind, Brock Lesnar. The season premiere that will begin the story that will climax at Wrestlemania 29. It begins tonight.
Johnny Ace begins begins with a new era. He sets up a match for Santino vs. Ziggler vs. Swagger. Punk smarts off to him and heckles Ace. Ace puts him in a match against Mark Henry. The new theme in his era is Power People.
Rock came out. The crowd was electric chanting “Boots to Asses” & “You still have it.” Rock came out and did his thing. It was everything it needed to be.
The first match was Ziggler vs. Swagger vs. Santino. This match was just kind of there for me. But Santino beat both. As Swagger and Ziggler beat on Santino after the match, Santino ran up the ramp and was saved by Brodus Clay. Ziggler charged Brodus Clay and took a crazy bump on the ramp. Ziggler is the most underrated wrestler in the business.
We had the debut of Lord Tensai. The crowd chanted A-Train at the top of their lungs. I was hoping they would chant “Hip Hop Hippo.” Alex Riley began his Future Endeavored Tour. I liked the debut of the Tensai character. And of course, Larry Stanley died when he saw “The Claw.” It reminded me of a early 90’s monster. Let’s see where they go with him.
So Punk-Henry was not the same match he had with Daniel Bryan. It was as good a match as Mark Henry is capable of having. This was such a good match. Both guys really brought it. It ended in a countout. I love the booking as this sets up Mark Henry as credible again. Jericho comes out of the crowd and says that after that beating, he and Punk need a drink. What happened to them has to be seen to be believed.
Sheamus came out to celebrate and then Alberto del Rio’s music hit. Ricardo Rodriguez started up and the crowd went nuts. For Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and Alberto del Rio delivered their lines and went through their motions all the while ignoring that the crowd was cheering someone else. Rock, Austin, Foley, Flair, Piper, those men would have never let a crowd get away with that.
We came back to get Cody vs. Kofi. Big Show came out to show Cody losing. I thought the story they told was very entertaining. Kofi got a nice win.
Abraham Washington gave Mark Henry his card. I’m not sure it was him or Teddy Long in a timewarp.
Eve cut a promo that was not horrible.
The main event was Miz vs. Ryder.
John Cena came out cut a promo on The Rock. The crowd was chanting for Lesnar at the top of their lungs. And then they got him. F5 on John Cena.
I have been watching Raw for the past year pretty much consecutively. This has been the best Raw in ages. 90% of that was the crowd. But the work was great. Lesnar coming back was perhaps one of the most electric things I’ve ever seen.
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ThinkSoJoE, G, and JT reconvene after WrestleMania 28 to give their thoughts on the show, including the very short World Heavyweight Championship match, the things that were on the show that could have been scrapped to make that match go longer, contrasting opinions on the Rock/Cena match, which two matches stole the show, and more. Right click the link and save to listen!
That’s right folks! We’re on the cusp of the culmination of the Celebration of Professional Wrestling Week here at Bored Wrestling Fan and Wonderpod Online… and the Grand Daddy of them all, WrestleMania 28, is only a few hours away! Needless to say, we’re all excited and pumped to watch the PPV tonight. ThinkSoJoE, JT, and myself gathered around our microphones to talk about what to expect on tonight’s show in relation to RAW, Smackdown, and various news and rumors that have occurred since last Sunday’s official prediction podcast. There’s a couple particular notable ex-WWE stars in Miami over the weekend, and the WWE has announced that one of next years WrestleMania matches will be announced on Monday… or perhaps even teased tonight. What might happen? So as you count the hours down, what better a way to get even MORE pumped up than to check out our pregame show?
An American Dragon moment is brought to you by Matt B. Wrestle.
What we have witnessed since this December is Daniel Bryan breaking through the glass ceiling and becoming a main eventer. This has to be a proud moment. Even as a heel how do you stop the train that is Bryan? Sadly this Sunday that might be Sheamus. Why is this sad?
We watched through tie-gate as Daniel Bryan was released and returned to the independent scene but was so valuable that he was brought back to the fold in no time. This has to mean he was meant for better things.
We have already seen Sheamus as a heel champion no less and their wasn’t much to be impressed by. He a muscle factory churned out by HHH/MacMahon that has improved but still doesn’t excuse putting him over Daniel Bryan. Who by far is the better “wrestler’
Uh oh I’ve said the naughty word that no one in the Universe should say. What I should of said was “entertainer” Daniel Bryan entertains me. He could give the WWE better mileage out of him then say a Sheamus run which would be Hoganesque. Which in this time period is just not worth its salt like it was in the 80’s and 90’s. We like the heels and tweeners of the ring they add to the excitement of the sport.
I would compare Daniels to Rick Rude and Curt Hennig, when you would watch thier matches you wanted them to lose because they were heel but they wore so “entertaining” that when they went over you were upset but not for their lack of ability in comparison to the faces. With Bryan you have that. He can “entertain” and leaving the belt on him post Wrestlemania would be a better choice.
He has pulled the best out of Mark Henry, the Miz and has fought Sheamus previously for the United States title. Which by the way he lost while a bland face. And when the rematch was pushed back into a dark match it ended in a no contest due to outside fighting from the lumberjacks around the ring. And to add further insult his resulting rematch on Raw he lost and had to be saved by Sin Cara. So yeah Daniel Bryan the heel needs to be pushed to win in similar fashion to Cody Rhodes who just makes the show more fun.
King and Queen of the Ring
And let’s not forget his storyline with AJ Lee and what could quite possibly turn into one of the most entertaining slow burning heel turns in the recent memory. Right now AJ is the video game playing every women that guys wish was more common. Daniel Bryan is slowly molding her into his queen. And seeing as how the Diva division could use a good Glamazon versus SexyNerd feud just to make it interesting I’m all for it. But if Daniel Bryan loses the championship what would be the point of a king and queen of Smackdown when one is titleless.
I believe like Mark Henry before him he’s a champion that makes the show more fun to watch and could quite possibly be the key to an entertaining Wrestlemania and many others for years to come.
Finally, the day is upon us. April 1, 2012. John Cena vs. The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, Florida. But, how did we get to this monumental main event? We’ll set the DeLorean for April 3, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia, where The Rock was the guest host for WrestleMania XXVII. Sure, I know it started before that, but you can dig through our archives and do your own damned research. This is WrestleMania week, so we’re going to talk about WrestleMania. That’s how it works. Anyways, let’s sit back, relax, and remember a time when The Miz was in the main event instead of being lost in a sea of people in an overbooked tag team match.
